Hackers Carried Out the Biggest Cryptocurrency Theft in History
Hackers exploited a security vulnerability and stole over $600 million worth of cryptocurrencies. This is the largest theft in the industry's history to date.
The target of the hacking attack was Poly Network's decentralized financial platform (DeFi). It is used to transfer blockchain tokens to other networks. The incident occurred on August 10, which the company announced on Twitter. In the released message, we can read that hackers managed to exploit flaws in the platform's security system. As a result, they were able to take control of contract chains, from where they sent funds to other addresses. They took Ether currency worth $267 million, Binance Smart Chain coins worth $252 million and about $85 million in USDC tokens. In addition to those already mentioned, transactions using bitcoin, among others, can be made using Poly Network.
On Twitter the company posted an appeal to the hackers with a request to contact them and return the stolen money. There was also a reminder to thieves that in most countries such an act is defined as a serious economic crime and they will be prosecuted for it. The request proved to be effective, as a large part of the misappropriated assets have already been returned to Poly Network's account. To date, the company has recovered $260 million worth of funds. It can be expected that more of the stolen amount will be recovered, and the hackers' aim was primarily to gain publicity with the biggest heist in the history of cryptocurrencies.
Gaining in popularity with each passing day, virtual money will become an increasingly frequent target for hackers. According to CipherTrace (via Newsweek), so far this year the cryptocurrency sector has lost $474 million due to fraud. DeFi-related intrusions accounted for more than 60% of all hacking attacks during that time. This is a noticeable increase from last year when this figure was just 20%. It can be expected that theft of cryptocurrencies will become more frequent, especially since the exchange rates have skyrocketed again and a bitcoin currently costs more than $46,000.
